


Lemon, Two Sugars

by Lliyk



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anticipation, Attempt at Humor, Dating, Drama & Romance, Eventual Happy Ending, F/M, Flirting, Fluff, Getting to Know Each Other, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Injury Recovery, Kissing, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Mild Language, Mutual Pining, Non-bending AU, Plot What Plot, Texting, WIP, boy meets girl
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:54:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 28
Words: 10,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27224590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lliyk/pseuds/Lliyk
Summary: Zuko bumps into someone on his 5am run.“Sorry.” Zuko tampers down a blush. “I’m Zuko,” he offers.For a second Katara looks mortified, as if she finally just realized that she’s been toted around by a complete stranger since having piping hot coffee spilled on her at the ass crack of dawn.“Zuko,” she repeats it carefully, and Zuko decides that he rather likes the way that it sounds on her cadence. “I’d say it’s nice to meet you, but...”
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 253
Kudos: 306





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hey! kyle here. 1am, needed a distraction from the pain while the pills i popped took their sweet time kicking in — [sound familiar?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27015778) lol — and i didn’t quite feel like reading. this started flying out of my fingers instead.
> 
> i’ve got a lot written and i’m invested enough in the plot but i don’t really have a plan for an ending or anything. i’m also thinking i’ll post a chapter of what i have every night? still debating. outside of that i’m not really sure about the update schedule. this is... mostly just something for me to come back to on shit days. y’know?? for when i need some fun.
> 
> anyway: all of my zutara things are typically Very Adult Themed so this is kind of a large change in pace for me. this also means that the rating is entirely likely to change somewhere down the road lmfao. let me know what you think! **comments are ♡.**

* * *

Zuko bumps into someone on his 5am run.

At first he thinks he’s rounded the corner too wide and has hit one of those snowman inflatables — it’s a new route after all, and because who in the hell would be up and about at 5am on a winter Friday? — but then he hears a splash, and the inflatable snowman lets out an awful screech of pain.

Turns out the snowman is a woman. Steaming hot coffee streaks down her powder blue blouse.

“Shit,” Zuko scrambles to help her up. “fuck. I am _so_ sorry.”

“It _burns_.” The woman cries, and Zuko can recognize the sounds of real pain and panic even from a mile away.

He rips off his sweater and holds it out for the woman to take. “Put this on,” he tells her, fishing his phone out of his shorts with the other hand. “I’ll take you to an emergency clinic.”

The woman peels out of her blouse with little preamble and snatches the sweater from him with shaky hands. Zuko flicks his eyes to the sunless morning sky.

“The one on 79th,” the woman hisses. “the clinic over here _sucks_.” 

By the time she’s pulled the sweater on proper his chauffeur has brought the car around. He repeats the women's preference for the emergency room nine blocks away as he gingerly ushers her across the street. 

At the clinic he learns that her name is Katara and that he’s older by a couple of years. Under the fluorescent lights he also learns that Katara’s eyes are big and blue, and that she fully expects him to pay for her treatment.

“Of course,” Zuko says in a rush, trying not to startle at the fact that there’s a rather gorgeous woman wearing his sweater for a rather horrible reason. He fiddles absently with the hem of his tee, wanting to say something else — anything else — but a nurse calls her name and she is promptly whisked away.

He spends an hour and a half nervously tapping at his phone in the waiting room. When Katara comes back he practically jumps to his feet, frowning. She has his crimson sweater on still, but he can see strips of gauze peeking out from under the collar. Zuko thinks nothing of how much the visit costs, or the prescription the receptionist hands over for that matter.

“Let me have this filled for you,” he insists once they’re standing on the sidewalk. A wind picks up. Zuko traces the pattern of a cascading mahogany curl and hands off the faded green paper to his chauffeur before he even receives an answer. “and let me replace your coffee,” he says. “it’s the least I can do.”

“The least,” Katara agrees wryly.

Zuko smiles. “How do you like your tea?”

“Lemon,” Katara answers slowly, a curious tilt to her chin. “two sugars.”


	2. Chapter 2

* * *

Ginger and turmeric, lemon with two sugars. Katara holds the tall paper cup away from her even as she sips. Zuko apologizes for what feels like the one thousandth time.

“It’s fine now,” Katara assures him for the five hundredth time. “I mean, it definitely hurts but I’ll heal quickly. Thank you for the tea.”

“Tea fixes everything,” Zuko blurts automatically. Katara raises an eyebrow, and he abruptly switches topics. “why were you wearing only a blouse? It’s winter.”

A long beat of silences hangs over their table —  _ why _ is he like this? Katara takes a long, measured sip from her cup.

“Tea fixes everything but foot-in-mouth,” she mutters.

“Sorry.” Zuko tampers down a blush. “I’m Zuko,” he offers.

For a second Katara looks mortified, as if she finally just realized that she’s been toted around by a complete stranger since having piping hot coffee spilled on her at the ass crack of dawn.

“Zuko,” she repeats it carefully, and Zuko decides that he rather likes the way that it sounds on her cadence. “I’d say it’s nice to meet you, but...”

Zuko ducks his head with a mirthless chuckle. “Right.”

Katara stares at him with calculating ocean eyes, glances at her tea, and then very visibly decides not to hate him.

“I’m Katara,” she says. “obviously. And I’m from the South Pole. Fire Nation winters don’t exist as far as I’m concerned.”

Zuko sips at his own tea — jasmine, of course — as a reminder beeps at him from his phone. His work meeting should be ending right now; has it really been three hours already? He slides a business card across the table. He’d borrowed the cashier’s pen to scribble his mobile on the back while placing their order.  _ Now or never, _ he decides.

“For your concerns,” Zuko says pointedly. “I’m afraid I’m needed elsewhere but if you need anything in regards to your injury...” he smiles wryly, here. “I know first hand how troublesome burns can be. Really, don’t hesitate to call if I can be of any help.”

Katara blinks slowly, takes the card with delicate fingers. “Alright then. Thank you, Zuko.”

“It’s the least I can do.” Zuko stands and allows a small smile when Katara gives a quiet chuckle. “Are you okay to get home? I can—”

“I’m not far,” Katara starts to shrug but clearly thinks better of it. “but thank you. Again.”

Zuko wants to say that he should be thanking  _ her _ for not pressing charges, but Katara is already raising her hand goodbye. Zuko leaves and tries not to think about how his sweater is probably hers now; how  _ that _ holds none of its usual notions, and about how in this case it’s probably not allowed to. 


	3. Chapter 3

* * *

Six hours after the Coffee Incident a text lights up his phone.

+672 010 0024: _It’s Katara._

Zuko, a hopeful fool, immediately saves the number.

Katara: _About my script..?_

Zuko, a _regular_ fool, remembers that he’s had to name this morning an Official Incident.

Z: _The pharmacy on 76th & West. Shall I have it picked up for you? _

Katara: _No, that’s okay._

Katara: _Thanks. x_

A smile starts to pull at Zuko’s mouth. X?

 _Anything_ , he starts to type, but quickly changes his mind and deletes it. He says nothing and tries to focus on what’s in front of him. 

His phone chimes again thirty minutes later.

Katara: _Slight problem._

Zuko closes his laptop with a silent sigh, refusing to let his mind immediately jump ahead, and waits. Katara is very obviously a double texter and she does not disappoint.

Katara: _1000% can’t afford this topical they prescribed._

Zuko clears away his desk and shuts the lights off in his office. He hadn’t been really focused on the Western Isle Antiques catalogue he’d been going over, anyway.

Z: _Be right there._


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> update schedule?? what update schedule??? pain is now and [huu voice] time is an _illusion_.

* * *

The topical is $300. Zuko makes sure he meets the pharmacist's stare when he swipes his card without a second thought; something about the way Katara has her hands stuffed resolutely in the back pockets of her jeans tells him that she’s had a less than pleasant experience.

“Thank you, sir.” The pharmacist holds out the neatly wrapped package to him. Zuko doesn’t take it.

“Katara,” he says for the first time, and he tries not to be overly pleased when she immediately comes to his side. He keeps his eye on the pharmacist. “your script.”

The people in line behind them titter. Katara holds her hand out with a smile that Zuko reckons could freeze a person’s blood, as opposite as the effect it has on him. The pharmacist presses her mouth into a thin line and blushes to the roots of her dark hair, handing over the package with little fuss. 

Zuko adjusts his leather gloves and brushes away imaginary lint from the chest of his pea coat, trailing almost protectively after Katara as she takes her leave.

“Okay, I admit that was pretty smooth.” Katara says once they’re standing on the sidewalk. She’s looking at him from the corner of her eye, and there’s a small smile on her mouth. Zuko finally lets himself blush about the fact that she still has his sweater on. Can’t fault a man for turning red in winter winds. “You know... Most people would’ve just left me to my own devices by now. I have to say that you’re doing a pretty decent job of atoning for this morning.”

Zuko laughs abruptly. “It was my mistake,” he tells her, adding a teasing note to his tone. “Besides, it’s the least I can do.”

“That right?” Katara’s smile widens, full and beautiful. Zuko’s heart skips. “Anyway, sorry to have you come all the way down here. Let me get out of your hair before I start compulsively trying to pay you back.”

Her short little laugh is low and alluring, just as the flutter of her lashes and the flick of her gaze over his face. Zuko clears his throat right as she starts to lift her hand goodbye. 

“Nonsense.” He gestures to the waiting car across the street. “Do you need a lift? It’s getting late.”

“No, that’s okay,” Katara pauses mid pivot to throw a smile over her shoulder, “thanks!” and then she’s moving, headed north down the block and vanishing around a corner, taking a string from Zuko’s heart with her.

Zuko kicks at a pocket of sleet at the base of a lamp post with a long sigh of begrudging acceptance.

“You _burned_ her,” he reminds himself under his breath. “let well enough alone.”


	5. Chapter 5

* * *

Zuko does his best to put Katara out of his mind. It was only one Incident, after all. He’s even changed her name in his contacts appropriately.

Four days later, just as he thinks he’s succeeding for only having thought after her wellbeing only once during work, his phone chimes with a text.

It’s her, because of course it is. His heart does a thing and this time he’s careful to ignore it. The name change helps.

Coffee Incident: _Katara again. This comes out weird, but: I have a follow up with the clinic on 79th that I forgot was today. You said to reach out with anything about the burn, so.._

Zuko’s brow furrows. So?

Coffee Incident: _I actually need a lift this time. Can you help? Is there any chance you can send your chauffeur?_

Zuko sets down his laptop.

Z: _Of course. Where are you?_

Coffee Incident: _University Blvd & 56th. Hoya’s Tea Parlor. _

There’s only one University Blvd in the whole of the Fire Nation, one that Zuko knows intimately from his own tepid years at Caldera U, and he wonders if they ever shared time on campus. He scraps the urge to compliment Katara’s choice in eatery, to ask if she’s a student or for how long, and focuses on the matter at hand.

Z: _Not a problem._

Coffee Incident: _Thank you._


	6. Chapter 6

* * *

Zuko doesn't send his chauffeur, for which he manages to hate himself about seventy percent. If Katara is surprised to see him waiting outside instead she says nothing of it. She rushes out the door of Hoya’s, takes one look at him opening the car door — “ _Ugh_. You’re a _star_ ,” — and promptly lets herself into the front passenger seat.

Zuko finds himself repressing a smile. He’s never been called a _star_ before. He glances over her as he pulls the car from the curb and onto the street. Her hair is braided today, and she sports a white, oversized Caldera U hoodie.

“I thought you were impervious to the cold?” He greets by way of jest.

“I thought I wouldn’t be assaulted with my own coffee and end up with blisters on my tits.” Katara doesn’t miss a beat. “Yet here we are.”

Zuko nearly chokes, mortified and ashamed and intrigued at her boldness all at once. In seconds he’s been downgraded from _star_ right back to _assailant_. There is no winter wind to help obscure his blush this time.

“I’m really, _really_ sorry, Katara.”

“Yeah,” Katara responds absently as she taps at her phone and something else on the dashboard. “me too.”

Piano music floods suddenly from the speakers, an instantly familiar melody. Zuko sets aside the fact that Katara has hijacked his bluetooth and latches on to the opportunity to change subjects.

 _“Für Elise?”_ He inquires carefully, counting the street signs as he steers. “I admit, I’m surprised.”

Katara chuckles without mirth, and Zuko watches her recline the passenger seat and stretch as careful as a puma from the corner of his eye. “Most people are,” Katara says evenly. She touches a finger to her temple. “but Beethoven helps me remember my study notes.”

“Let me guess,” Zuko starts, and he realizes that this is the longest conversation they’ve had that isn’t about his glorious fuck up. Katara heaves a sigh.

“Personally? I hate guessing games. I’m getting my Masters in Hydrology.”

Zuko laughs. He flexes his fingers on the wheel. His heart is doing that thing again. “Duly noted.”

By the time they reach the clinic their conversation has turned into a light banter, and it dwindles into a fairly amicable silence once Zuko parks. Katara stops him when he goes to exit the car with her.

“Oh, no,” she says, tucking a loose curl behind her ear. She’s got her hand on the latch and one foot out the door. “you don’t need to — it’s all fine. I’m home after this anyway.”

Zuko stays his hand over his seat belt, watching the way her eyes crescent just so with the tiny smile that pulls at her mouth. _Nonsense_ , he almost says. “Are you sure?”

Katara only laughs; that small, alluring husky one she’d let out the last time he’d offered her a lift. He has no time to examine the warmth that the sound puts in his stomach. 

“Thank you, Zuko,” she smiles, and then she is slipping between the gap of winter wind and his jerkily outstretched hand.

The firm _thunk_ of his car door closing rings with a finality. Zuko stares after her and how she glides through the street, the same way that water might fall between his fingers.


	7. Chapter 7

* * *

Z: _Mai._

Mai: _?_

Z: _I accidentally burned someone._

Mai: _Yikes. Should I get my knives?_

Z: _What? No, it’s not like that. I spilled her coffee on my morning run and she ended up needing medical attention._

Mai: _So it’s a she. Do go on._

Z: _Yes._

Mai: _Oh, man._

Z: _I’m not sure if she likes me back._

Z: _No, I did not forget the part where I burned her._

Mai: _Uh-huh. Sure._

Z: _Mai._

Mai: _Right. Anyway. You’ll never know unless you ask, and there’s literally no way she doesn’t think you’re attractive, so. Ask her to dinner or something. It’s the least you can do._

Z: _That’s... you’re right about that last bit._

Mai: _I’m right about all of it, actually. There’s a reason we’re best friends._

Z: _Also correct. Thank you, Sunny._

Mai: _Sure thing, Zuzu._


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WILD to me how i’m being punished for not creating a hell spawn lmfao

* * *

It’s just over an hour later that Katara emerges from the clinic.

“Zuko?” She spots him right away, but only because he is leaning against the wall of brick that hosts the doors. “What—?”

Zuko stands up straight and holds out the paper cup he’s been clinging to since he purchased it thirty minutes ago.

“Ginger and turmeric. Lemon, two sugars,” He meets Katara’s wide blue eyes. “Right?”

Katara accepts the cup with hesitant hands. “Yes,” she says, sips. “it’s... Thank you.”

Zuko can’t resist a chuckle. He knows the tea is cold. _He’s_ cold.

“Have dinner with me?” Zuko lets it fall from his mouth before he can change his mind. Her gaze snaps to his in clear surprise. “Turns out I might also hate guessing games. I know this is probably... I think I might like you, Katara. And I don’t want to guess about that.”

Zuko swallows nervously as she stares at him; maybe he shouldn't have waited for her like this.

“... Just dinner?”

“Just dinner,” Zuko nods in confirmation. “though at some point I’m hoping to convince you otherwise.”

“At some point,” Katara parrots. She smiles slowly, then. Small and coy — like maybe she’s enjoying him making a fool of himself in front of her. Zuko hopes to the spirits that she says yes. “you know what? Why not. Dinner sounds nice.”

His heart sings. There’s that distinct playful lilt that sends warmth simmering under his skin in the note of her tone. Zuko silently vows to show her what _at_ _most_ looks like where he’s concerned.

“Tomorrow,” he says. He knows first hand that doctor visits are their own hellish brand of exhausting. “8pm. Where can I pick you up?”

“Oh? Interesting.” Katara tilts her head at him, and he knows then that she’s finally looking at him differently. The way he wants. “Sure, tomorrow is fine. I’ll text you.”

“Later today, I hope.” Zuko says it with measured intent as he turns to leave, very purposefully not asking about her means of getting home. “Have a nice night, Katara.”

Katara's smile widens and Zuko’s breath catches — he’s hoping she’ll say _what? no offer to drive me this time?_ or something equally along those lines, just so he can spend another moment with her — but Katara merely lifts her hand goodbye and starts north down the block, just as she had before.

And just as she had before, she does not look back.


	9. Chapter 9

* * *

The text comes just as Zuko is readying for bed. 

Coffee Incident: _Is there a dress code?_

Coffee Incident: _For tomorrow._

Zuko leaves the name change, just in case. Katara’s continued aloofness isn’t lost on him, and it isn’t lost on him that there are one thousand better ways that he could’ve gone about encouraging her to consider him a romantic interest.

Z: _The restaurant is semi-formal but you can wear whatever you like._

Coffee Incident: _La. You can’t complain when I show up in my laundry day outfit then._

Z: _Wouldn't dream of it._

Coffee Incident: _Really?_

Coffee Incident: _Because you sure did have a lot to say about my blouse. AND my hoodie._

A chuckle rumbles out of him. Zuko spends a second considering his reply as he makes himself a glass of ice water.

Z: _Yeah. I probably should’ve just minded my business, huh?_

Coffee Incident: _Now you're catching on._

Z: _With the way you kicked my ass both times without even looking at me? I mean, how could I not?_

Coffee Incident: _Ha!_

Coffee Incident: _You’d be surprised at how many boys can’t take a hint._

Zuko’s eyebrow shoots to his hairline. _Boy?_ Absolutely not. 

Z: _I’m no boy, sweetheart._

Coffee Incident: _Is that right?_

He can practically hear the smirk in Katara’s reply. 

Coffee Incident: _Could’ve fooled me._

 _Oh_ , Zuko thinks as his mouth pulls into a wolfish grin, _it’s on._

Z: _You’re treading dangerous water there, Katara._

Coffee Incident: _Dangerous water is kind of my thing._

Z: _We’ll just have to see about that, now won’t we?_

Coffee Incident: _No need._

Coffee Incident: _I’ve got the credit hours to prove it._

Z: _... Clever._

Coffee Incident: _Mm._

Coffee Incident: _I see you’re still catching on._

A third text pops up before Zuko can even think of a proper come back.

Coffee Incident: _Goodnight, Zuko. x_

Zuko regards the message with hooded eyes, that _warmth_ simmering just under his skin as he recognizes it for the flirty teasing that it is. He texts back a simple goodnight, his wolffish grin morphing into something probably dopey and stupid as he re-reads through the conversation.

It takes two tries to wipe the smile from his face. Zuko climbs into bed, eager to sleep if only so that tomorrow can come sooner. 


	10. Chapter 10

* * *

Azula: _You sent my girlfriend flowers this morning._

Azula: _Why._

Zuko rolls his eyes.

Z: _Because she’s the best and she deserves them._

Azula: _... True._

Z: _Is that all?_

Azula: _Mai hates flowers, dumb-dumb._

Z: _I know. That’s the point._

Azula: _I see._

Z: _You're welcome._

Azula: _Shut up. Aren’t you supposed to be getting ready to make a fool of yourself for some girl you injured?_

Z: _I’ll remember this when you’re trying to plan your first surprise for Mai and eventually come crawling to me._

Azula: _Mai likes surprises?!_

Z: _Can’t say._

Azula: _Zuko._

Z: _Azula._

Azula: _I hate you._

Zuko sends a heart emoji.

Azula: _Gross._

Zuko sends a hundred.


	11. Chapter 11

* * *

The rest of Zuko’s day passes in a blur, save for after lunch, in which he’d received a message from Katara.

Coffee Incident: _84th & Kings Ct, building #10. Gate code is 0773. _

Zuko had hummed to himself in realization. She wasn’t far from the clinic after all.

Z: _I’ll be there._

Coffee Incident: _As you should be._

Coffee Incident: _See ya. x_

Zuko had already been toying with the idea of leaving the office early but Katara’s parting message encouraged him to act on it. Something about that _X_ she uses when she’s clearly done messaging him. He wonders absently if she uses it for everyone.

Zuko leaves the office at 5pm on the dot, ignoring the raised eyebrows the lot of his coworkers keep giving him, though he understands. Usually he’s off at 7, and he typically never left work for anything less than a family emergency. Everyone knows that he doesn’t really have those anymore.

At home the first thing he does is shed his work outfit, swapping them for a pair of sweats so that he can rifle through his clothing options. He has no idea what Katara is going to be wearing, and unlike her he isn’t immune to _any_ kind of winter.

Besides, she’s seen him in his work suits already, however tucked away they were under his standard workday pea coat. He wants to give Katara something to look at.

A blush flares across his face, which he promptly ignores in favor of laying out his choices across his bed.

Z: _Which one?_

Zuko’s leaning towards his third pick when the reply comes.

Mai: _Tieless? Gonna show off the tattoos then, huh? You’ve got it worse than I thought._

Mai: _I take it you have no idea what she’s wearing?_

Z: _She cut me quick when I mentioned her choice in clothing the last two times, so.. No, not a clue._

Mai: _I like her already. Go with the second fit. Navy has always looked good on you. Use the burgundy shirt from the third one though. White is way too boring._

Zuko does as he’s told and puts the other two outfits away.

Z: _Thank you, Sunny._

Mai: _I’d say knock ‘em dead but I think you’ve done enough._

Z: _Not Funny._

Mai: _I Know._

Zuko grins to himself as he looks over the clothes still laid out before him. Long navy topcoat with gleaming gold buttons and dark wash jeans to match. His phone chimes.

Mai: _Hair half up._

Mai: _And I really, really Hate these flowers._

Zuko laughs, sends his reply —

Z: _I Know._

— and then hops in the shower.


	12. Chapter 12

* * *

Katara is waiting when he pulls into a parking spot in front of her complex building. He’s ten minutes early and she’s dressed in all black, standing tall in heeled boots and long legs on display under the short skirt of her knit turtleneck sweater dress. Her lips glint a dark glossy red in the bright lamp light. There’s gold threaded into the braids that frame the cascading mass of her hair, and Zuko has to remind himself to breathe.

“Didn’t keep you out here long, did I?” He asks playfully as he opens the door for her. Katara’s eyes glitter in amusement.

“Not even a second,” she smiles as she slides into her seat. “thank you, Zuko.”

Zuko flirts casually with her on the drive, careful not to tell her how gorgeous she looks as they bicker goodnaturedly, though not shying away from her gaze when she catches him checking her out. Katara blushes, and Zuko turns his eyes back to the road with a small grin of victory.

“ _Minami’s_ ,” Katara reads the bright aqua neon sign as it comes into view. She unbuckles her seatbelt as Zuko parks. “where is this, by the way?”

“We’re on the coast,” Zuko says as they step out of the car. Distant waves bring a sea salt tang to the cool evening air. He takes her hand in his, leads her through the car park and up the restaurant steps. “fresh seafood is the best seafood after all.”

Katara perks up instantly, just as he’d hoped. 

_“Seafood?”_ She asks blithely. “Wow. You really know the way into a girl’s good graces.”

 _“Good graces?”_ Zuko parrots in jest, ignoring how his phone starts going off almost insistently when he announces his reservation with the concierge. “What about the way to your heart?”


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> spent the weekend away (a mistake, i’ve yet to decide lol). 6hrs on the road to get home. why is texas so big? anyway, see ya tmr. x

* * *

Jin: _Am I seeing things or are you at Minami’s?_

Jin: _... Wait._

Jin: _No, I think you are. Wow, it’s good to see you. You look amazing! I see you still come for takeout after work! Lol. And you haven’t even seen my texts yet._

Jin: _Oh my gosh remember when I first brought you here???_

Jin: _Sorry, I know this is probably entirely random for you! I just can’t not say anything though. You’ve always looked good in blue._

Jin: _If only you’d look at me... (ha)._

Jin: _There we go! Hi!! I’m on your left._

Jin: _Other left, dumb-dumb._

Jin: _Wait, why are you_

Jin: _Oh._

Jin: _I didn’t realize that you were with someone._

Jin: _Spirits. She’s..._

Jin: _Yeah, okay. Still great to see you._

Jin: _I’ll stop texting now._


	14. Chapter 14

* * *

“The way to my...” Katara actually giggles, her mouth pulling into an infinitely bemused flash of teeth that she hides behind her hand as he pulls out a chair for her.

Zuko commits the moment to memory as he takes his own seat.

“Um, Zuko?” Katara tilts her head curiously. “Do you need to get that?” 

Zuko blinks, nearly blushes at how caught up in Katara he is. “Nope,” he says automatically, taking his buzzing phone and glancing over the bright screen. He glances about, tries not to scowl as he puts his phone on silent and lays it face down on their table. “I’m all yours.”

“That right?” Katara’s octave dips just as a waiter appears with a pitcher of water and a pair of menus. 

Zuko delights in the way her eyes light up, in how she makes little _hmm’s_ when she finds something she likes.

“Wine?” He raises an eyebrow in question after they’ve placed their orders, tilts his chin in acknowledgement at Katara’s nod. “ _Mourvedre Mei,_ ” Zuko closes the menu and hands it over. “the bottle, if you would please.”

Their waiter leaves with a bow, and once again Zuko finds himself remembering to breathe. There is a glint in Katara’s eye when he looks up at her; she’s _looking_ at him again, blue eyes flicking over his face and lingering briefly at his open collar. 

“So,” Zuko leans forward with a chuckle, returns her steady gaze with his own. “How are you, Katara?”


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> crippling insomnia, amirite?? hennyways: thanks so much for the love guys. you fuel me when everything sucks ;-; replies are on the way. ♡

* * *

“Well,” Katara starts slowly, holding his gaze. “I’m healing, still. It’s not so bad though. The scar is smaller every day and it barely hurts anymore.”

Zuko’s shoulders droop slightly, and he pours every ounce of sincerity into his reply. “It sickens me to know that I’ve burned another. I’m relieved that you’re doing alright.” He says quietly. “I’m sorry, Katara.”

A beat of silence falls over them, then:

“Thank you, Zuko.” Katara reaches across the table to give his hand a gentle squeeze, just as sincere. “I forgive you — I _have_ forgiven you.”

Zuko runs his thumb across her knuckles on instinct, quiet still despite his surprise. “You have?”

“How could I not? You looked like a kicked puppy every time you saw me,” Katara chuckles. His heart sings when she keeps her hand in his, despite her jocose words. “to be truthful, I forgave you the second you offered to replace my coffee. You’d already paid for my treatment and offered to handle my prescription. I knew you were truly genuine, then.”

“That’s a relief. I was so sure you hated me, even when you were being perfectly nice.” Zuko admits. He resists touching at his scarred cheek with his free hand. “I mean, I most certainly hated the person who burned _me_.”

Katara pats his hand and takes hers away. “I promise to ask you about it later,” she says, just as their waiter returns with wine glasses, their bottle of rosé, and the promise of food. “I do admit that I’m curious, but sharing trauma is more of a fourth date kind of thing.”

Their waiter bows out with little notice. Zuko blinks, unused to having others act as casual as him when it comes to discussing his scar. He blinks again. 

_Fourth date?_

A slow, joy tinted grin pulls at his mouth. 

“Of course,” Zuko hates himself for practically purring the words, but he _really_ can’t seem to help it. “whatever was I thinking?”

Katara sips her wine with a happy little sound that he hopes to hear again soon. Her eyes find his over the rim of her glass, playful and demure. 

“Dunno,” she says. “but I’m starting to think that I might like you, too.”


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i would’ve posted this last night but i actually managed to sleep !! shout out not being awake for a full 72 hours lmao

* * *

With their food long gone and the last dregs of the wine finally sitting at the bottom of their glasses, Zuko and Katara agree that they’ve been holding up at their table for long enough. 

Their continuous chat quiets as they each indulge in measured sips of ice water, and by the time Zuko signs his name away on the bill he and Katara are leaning towards each other across the table with matching little smiles, completely reimmersed in their conversation.

“Just think about it,” Katara urges, her hands gesturing animatedly in her reverence. There is a dusting of pink across her nose from the rosé and her mouth is still as glossy and red as it’d been when Zuko first laid eyes on her that night. She’s stunning. “if everyone with even an _ounce_ of power just... all collectively gave _two percent more_ of a shit about where this planet — and with it, _us_ — is going, we would probably actually succeed in maintaining a true balance. I mean, _how_ does the Earth Kingdom have an entire Space Force gearing up to go but _no_ clean water in their northern school districts?” Katara makes a completely affronted face, though not without a modicum of humor. “Do you _see_ why I’m angry—?”

“—I see why you’re angry, yes.” Zuko nods sagely in agreement, both disbelieving and enamoured with the depth they’ve managed to veer their discourse into. He can’t remember the last time he’d held such a worldly conversation with someone that wasn’t his uncle. “We can go to space but _little_ _kids_ can’t have _water?_ Yeah. You’re _absolutely_ correct.” 

_“Thank you.”_ Katara leans back into her chair with a heavy sigh and a flippant toss of her mahogany tresses. She shakes her head in wry jest. “Spirits, I hate it here.”

Zuko laughs, rich and full with the sudden flood of warm affection that washes over him. He stands and holds his hand out for her.

“Shall we go, then?”

Katara smiles and slips her hand easily into his, lets him guide her out of her seat and lead them into the crisp winter night.

“The Armada Pier isn’t too far from here. Just a few blocks, really,” Zuko says as they descend the restaurant steps. He gives Katara’s palm a light squeeze. “care for a walk?”

“Great idea. We _did_ have an entire bottle of wine,” Katara slides her hand out of his only to lock their arms. She cuts him a sly look as she fingers one of the gold buttons on his sleeve. “besides, we didn’t have dessert and I’m not quite ready to go home.”

Zuko starts them east down the block, doing his best to ignore how Katara leans just so into his side, and how her other hand has firmly molded over his bicep.

“You’re in luck on both accounts,” he tells her, unsurprisingly unable to hide the pleased thing of a smile that’s pulled at his mouth. “Armada Pier has cotton candy — and I don’t want to take you home yet, either.”

“Oh?” Katara’s laughter is bright and open. “Pray tell, Zuko.”

His heart flutters at the sound of his name, right on time with a gust of wind and a flurry of cascading curls. “Not until I’m sure that I’ve convinced you otherwise.”

“Ah, yes. And you will accomplish this how, exactly?”

Zuko imagines dark glossy red in the glint of colorful fair lights and lingering wisps of sticky confection, wondering if she’ll taste like sugar or _Mourvedre Mei._

“Cotton candy first,” Zuko swallows thickly. “convincing later.”


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oof. right back at it with the crippling insomnia. anyway, i kind of love this chapter **♡.**

* * *

Armada Pier is an array of bright color, a reaching scatter of rainbow that hits the lapping waves of the sea to meet the wavering edge of the hanging half moon that also shimmers along its choppy surface. The lighthouse flames of the Gates of Azulon glint in the far distance, and the smell of warm sugar and hot winter snacks meet them at the entrance of the Pier’s pavilion.

“This is open all year ‘round?” Katara asks in awe, stepping curiously forward. Zuko hums absently in acknowledgement, too busy smiling at how she drops her hand back to his. “Three years I’ve been in Caldera! How have I never been here?”

“Wait,” Zuko stops them short of the milling crowd at the end of the pavilion. “ _never?”_

“Never.”

“Unacceptable.” Zuko tsks. He laces their fingers and starts them down the boardwalk. “The rides are closed until spring but you at least have to see the greenhouse. They put different lights up inside for the Winter Solstice festival every year.”

Katara laughs, conceding with a mock salute and a playful _yes, sir_ that warms him more than the lingering wine in his system. Zuko backburns the wonder of what that phrase might sound like in a different situation and takes her to his favorite snack cart. They pass other couples playing games and throngs of people leaving the open bars along the way, and at the snack cart Katara _ooh’s_ and _hmm’s_ at the assortment of shapes and flavors the cotton candy comes in. Zuko grins to himself when she makes that same little happy sound that she had during dinner when the lady behind the counter hands over a cone of rainbow fluff in the shape of a crescent moon.

“Oh. _Wow_ ,” Katara whispers once they’ve stepped into the greenhouse. Zuko stays put as she moves forward, watches her tilt her head back and spin in a careful circle to take in the flashing fairy lights that dangle like stars from the blooming flora and the bare cherry trees. “it’s beautiful, Zuko!”

Zuko resists the strong urge to say something incredibly cheesy and gross like _no, you_ or _yeah, you are_ and settles for observing Katara’s joy in companionable silence, committing the moment to memory. A short trek down one of the nearby paths reveals lights strung in the shapes of different flowers, dragonflies and searavens and sparrowkeets. 

“Okay, I think I might love it here,” Katara sighs dreamily as she fingers a cluster of low hanging peonies. Her mouth is pulled into a wide, elated smile and she holds her dwindling crescent cone of cotton candy close to her chest as she turns to him. “I’ll definitely have to come back when the rest of the Pier is open.”

“I’ll bring you,” Zuko says easily. “I always come here in spring to see the roses.”

“Is that right,” Katara pinches a tuft of cotton candy between her teeth, her ocean eyes catching the glitter of the swaying lights. The cotton candy disappears with a flicker of curling pink. “I suppose I’ll hold you to that, then.”

Zuko takes a tentative step closer and steals a strip of Katara’s treat, tracking the alluring curve of her glossy bottom lip, the way her mouth quirks into a small smirk.

“Convinced?” He murmurs. 

Katara’s little smirk widens, soft and coy as she tilts her head and looks up at him.

“Well,” she says slowly, darting her tongue out to snatch another wisp of rainbow floss. “I’m sure that I could be.”


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know nobody asked but kat’s dress had pockets lmao

* * *

Zuko wakes for his 5am run to the additional sound of an incoming text. He blinks away the sleep, kills the alarm going off on his bedside clock, and slips on his glasses. 

Mai: _How was last night?_

A dopey smile immediately splits his face, and he types out his reply as he slides out of bed.

Z: _Dinner was great. We walked to Armada Pier to see the greenhouse after. Can you believe she’s never been?_

Mai: _Never? That’s wild._

Z: _That’s what I said._ _I told her I could bring her back when the rides were open. She said yes._

Mai: _Congrats, Zuzu. Do I get to know her name now?_

Zuko chuckles, knowing that his best friend is really asking if this one is a keeper or not.

Z: _Strong maybe. We’ll see._

Mai: _Sounds promising. Anyway, I’m going back to bed before Azula gets grumpy. Enjoy your run. Don’t burn anybody this time._

Z: _Not Funny_.

Mai: _I Know._

Zuko goes through the motion of readying himself for his run with a lightness to his step, the smile on his face only managing to grow wider as he remembers last night in vivid detail.

Katara had tasted like sugar.

Her mouth had been warm and sticky and soft but her kiss had been firm, and he’d caught remnants of moonpeach and sunberry confection with the slightest hint of lemon when he’d dared to run the tip of his tongue over the seam of her lips. She’d opened for him with a sharp inhale, her free hand fisting the lapel of his topcoat to pull him down. Zuko had chased the sound, and he remembers letting out his own soft moan when the tip of her tongue had licked fleetingly against his. His hands had settled along the curve of her hips, and her kiss had turned heady when he’d brazenly, carefully, brought her body flush to his.

They’d broken apart with mutual gasps for air. Katara’s eyes were wide and surprised. Zuko almost apologized — but then she’d smiled and blushed, looked away shyly and put her hand back in his. Zuko took her home after that, and when he’d walked her to her door to bid her goodnight she’d brushed her fingers over the line of scar on his cheek and kissed him again.

He had a text from her when he’d gotten back into his car.

Coffee Incident: _Goodnight, Zuko. x_

Zuko sighs as he ties up his shoes, the memory of Katara’s lips on his stuck in an endless loop. He makes a note to change her name in his phone later and slips out the door.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what is a good night’s rest??? never heard of her
> 
> replies onw!

* * *

Zuko spends the majority of his Friday with Katara on his mind, on the way that the fairy lights had looked in her eyes and how endearingly _shy_ she’d gotten under the look he’d given her after their kiss.

He replays the moment over and over, trying his best not to grin like a fool during business meetings at work, feeling grateful that she’d agreed to go out with him in the first place.

It is just as he is readying himself for a trip two floors up to legal about a few missing pieces of paperwork that his phone lights up with his first message from her since the night before.

Coffee Incident: _Y’know, it’s really not fair how good of a kisser you are._

Waiting, Zuko holds back a self satisfied smirk, beyond pleased to know that he isn’t the only one thinking about last night. As predicted, his phone chimes once more.

Coffee Incident: _When can we do it again?_

His heart does that thing, accompanied by a wash of excited warmth.

Z: _Whenever you want, sweetheart._

Coffee Incident: _Are you free tomorrow?_

Z: _I have a family meeting in the morning. Otherwise I’m all yours._

Coffee Incident: _Lunch?_

Z: _Lunch sounds good._ _Anywhere special you want to go?_

Coffee Incident: _My place._

Oh.

Coffee Incident: _If you’re okay with that..?_

 _More_ than okay, but he keeps that to himself. For all he knows she could be exhausted, or just really inclined to stay in — and he knows first hand that an injury will do that to you. He thinks, not for the first time, that it’s a wonder she met him at all last night. 

Zuko types out his reply as he eases away from his desk.

Z: _Of course, whatever makes you comfortable. Should I bring anything?_

Katara’s reply makes sure that grin he’s been trying to hold back all day stays plastered on his face.

Coffee Incident: _Just you._


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i’ve been a bit absent on this as is, so here’s the next installment! 
> 
> see ya tmr. x

* * *

Ikem raises his eyebrows. “And who are these for?”

“ _Obviously_ they’re for the girl he spilled hot coffee on last week.” Azula looks over the bouquet Zuko is putting together with disinterest. “Don’t forget peonies, dumb-dumb.”

“Thank you, Azula.” Zuko says simply, chuckling to himself when his sister huffs out an annoyed _whatever_. He turns his attention to Ikem. “She’s right,” he says, holding up the small arrangement of daffodils and daisies for his mother to inspect. “I’m seeing her after this.”

“That’s wonderful, Zuko.” Ursa gushes. “Just be sure to tend to my daisies after you bring Kiyi from her friend’s house tomorrow night. They’re troublesome to keep during the winter.”

Zuko hums his acknowledgement absently, eyeing the bouquet critically, turning it this way and that in his hands.

Azula sighs heavily. “Don’t forget the ribbon, either.”

“To match her eyes,” Ikem agrees.

“Perhaps we will get to meet this young lady sometime soon?” Iroh steps into the apothecary brandishing a tray of tea and sweet dumplings, their typical fare for family meetings. “It has been a long time since you have picked flowers, nephew.”

“Strong maybe,” Zuko tells his family what he’d told Mai. He plucks a blue ribbon from his mother’s ready collection and then wanders over to where a bush of peonies lay nestled near a thicket of dusty millers. “what color, Mom?”

“White,” Ursa and Azula call out in tandem. Ikem and Iroh’s laughter ring out brightly through the large glass enclosure, and Zuko stops to raise his eyebrow at his sister.

“ _What?_ ” Azula sips at her steaming tea. “I grew up in this Agni-forsaken greenhouse, too.”

Their mother laughs. Zuko hides a smile as he trims a white peony from its branch. “Thank you, Azula,” he says simply.

Azula rolls her eyes. “Whatever.”


	21. Chapter 21

* * *

Zuko feels his chest tighten when Katara opens the door to her apartment. Her long curling hair is wild and tossed from sleep and she’s wearing his crimson crewneck. He notices for the first time how it’s definitely too big on her, the sleeves falling over her hands and the hem of it tucked lazily into her frayed denim shorts so it doesn’t fall down her thighs. She’s _adorable._

“Hi,” Katara smiles softly at him as she swings the door open wide and steps back to allow him in. “oh! Are those for me?”

Zuko tears his gaze away from her legs to the forgotten bouquet in his hand. “Yes,” he steps forward at her beckon, immediately moving to slip off his shoes. He lines them up next to the very same pair of ankle boots she’d worn on their date. “I cut them myself just this morning.”

“Daisies in the winter? _Daffodils_...” Katara accepts the bouquet eagerly and slants him an unreadable look. “Thank you, Zuko. They’re lovely. Let me get some water for these — make yourself cozy, yeah?”

Zuko follows her out of the foyer as he rolls up the sleeves of his charcoal sweater, absolutely charmed at the fact that she recognizes the flowers he’d picked, and then has to fight down a blush when he realizes she might just as easily pick out the meaning behind his selection. Katara makes a beeline for her kitchen off to the left, so he busies himself with taking in how she’s decorated the rest of her space.

Splashes of ocean greens and blue meet his curious gaze. He stands behind a crushed turquoise sofa, across from him a large TV takes up the center wall between the tall windows, the space between occupied by a low glass coffee table that hosts a laptop and a set of remotes. Zuko steps around the couch, his attention snagged both by the ceiling to floor bookshelf stuffed to the brim on his right and the enormous world map that takes up the wall on his left, littered with colorful pins in various places.

“Green is where I’ve been and yellow is where I’ve planned to go,” Katara says as she breezes into the area. Zuko glances over his shoulder to see her place the flowers, in a blue crystal vase now, in the center of her coffee table. “pink is for my favorites, red is for places I hated, and blue...” she slides up next to him to touch the single blue pin in the whole of the map, right in the center of Caldera. “is where I am.”

“Where _haven’t_ you been?” Zuko jests, noting the dots of green scattered across the map. There are even some in the middle of the seas. Katara laughs and stands on her toes to reach across him, finger landing in the pinless Western Isles, just north of the Fire Nation.

“One day,” she sighs dreamily, turning a blinding grin at him. “I hear it’s beautiful there.”

“It’s beautiful here.” Zuko murmurs, unable to help himself. He reaches out to tuck a wild curling tress behind her ear, lets his fingers trail feather-light down her jaw so that he can tip her chin upward. “I’m going to kiss you now.”

“Are you?” Katara smiles, an alluring flash of teeth. “That’s good. Because I really, _really_ want you to.”


	22. Chapter 22

* * *

“What do you want to eat?”

“ _You_ , if you keep that up.” Zuko promises.

Still, he keeps his hands resolutely hooked behind Katara’s knees. Their kiss had turned fiery quickly, and in a moment of weakness he’d hauled her up and onto the arm of her velvet couch. She’d made the most enticing little sound then, and he had to stop himself from kissing her dizzy in earnest.

Presently, Katara has her hands under his sweater and splayed over his navel, rubbing soothing circles beneath his tee with her thumb against his skin.

Katara lets out a low, amused chuckle as she lets him pull her hands away to rest in her lap. Zuko narrows his gaze playfully at her. “Keep these to yourself.”

“Yes, sir.” Katara grins coyly, lips stained pretty red from his mouth on hers, and Zuko takes a measured step back before he finds himself weak again. She slides off of the arm of the couch and back into the kitchen. “I usually order something from _Nishi’s_ on weekends,” she calls. “Do you like Gaoling style barbecue?”

“Sounds good,” Zuko flicks his gaze over the apartment again, eying the hallway that leads to a cracked bedroom door and two closed others, then over the living room again. He stops short when he spots a set of controllers on the shelf of her media center. “ _you play_ _Xbox?_ ”

“All the time when I’m not studying. My brother got it for me so that I could play with him and my brother in law, but I have a few steady online friends these days.” Katara laughs and pops back into the living room, a takeout menu in her hand. “Why? Fancy losing at Mortal Kombat or something?”

“ _Lose?_ At _Mortal Kombat?_ ” Zuko scoffs and picks up a controller. “You’re on, sweetheart.”

Katara grins and turns on the TV, switching on the console with a press of the other controller. The Xbox logo gleans across the screen, and then a bright purple blip pops up, reading: _Hi, KatAttack!_

Zuko smirks at her gamertag. Definitely adorable.

“I’ll let you warm up while I order this,” Katara says airily as she puts on the game. She cuts him a sly look. “you’ll need it.”


	23. Chapter 23

* * *

“Of course you’re a _Scorpion_ main,” Katara scoffs when she finally joins him in the middle of her velvet sofa, sipping at a glass of juice and shrugging lightly when he declines the offer of his own glass. “why does this not surprise me?”

Zuko makes an incredulous face at her, a high thrum of elation starting under his skin at her casual use of game terms. He can’t remember the last time any of his romantic interests cared for stuff like this the way he did... With a grin, Zuko promises to exact vengeance on her for dissing his choice in character selection. “And who do _you_ plan on using?”

Katara slides her controller over to him confidently. “You can pick for me,” she says blithely. “What do I get when I win?”

“When? Big talk, _Kat_.” Out of pure playful spite Zuko picks the randomize option. “Ask me again when you lose.”

Katara only smirks, and all too soon he realizes that her jocose confidence is well warranted. She wipes the floor with him on every single fight, no matter what character he picks for her. Zuko’s not bad, but by his seventh loss in a row — _no_ , he’s not counting, the game is, with bright gold numbers when every match ends — Katara decides to take absolutely no mercy on him. On the screen, Kung Lao pounds Scorpion’s face in with a flurry of nasty punches. 

“BRUTALITY.” The announcer on the game calls menacingly, the word appearing across the screen in bright red letters. “ _Learn from this!_ ” Kung Lao says to the camera. 

Zuko’s mouth falls open. Katara leans back into the couch with a shit-eating grin, eyebrows raised at him expectantly. “Still wanna play?”

“Uh — _no_. I think I’ve _learned_ enough for one day,” Zuko laughs and sets his controller down in surrender. “you’re going to add me on here later, though. I _will_ get my vengeance.”

“ _Sure_ you will,” Katara giggles and turns off the console, then tosses him the TV remote. The doorbell rings just as she stands from the couch. “food! Finally. Let me get that. You can put on whatever you want, a movie or music...”

She trails off as she saunters out of the living room and around the corner into the foyer. Zuko spends a second deciding between Netflix and Hulu, settling on the former when he thinks of a show that they might both enjoy. Katara comes back shortly with an enormous brown paper bag and a bright smile on her face. Zuko takes the bag of takeout while she goes about clearing the coffee table, setting her vase of flowers on the media center with her controllers.

“I have drinks,” she offers, brow raised curiously as Zuko starts unloading their food. “I’m probably going to have another mimosa. Or two, since it’s Saturday.” Katara offers a crooked grin that warms his chest with affection. “Want anything?”

“That was a mimosa?” Zuko furrows his brow in affront, glaring at her empty glass. Katara laughs.

“Just to be clear, I _did_ offer you one.” On the table, Katara’s phone lets out an insistent beeping sound. “Ah,” she sighs, scooping the device up and starting down the hall. “hang tight, will you? Back in a second.”

Zuko hums absently as he watches her disappear into what looks like the bathroom. He turns his focus on laying out each of the dishes from _Nishi’s_ , and allows himself to indulge in the silly grin that’s been threatening to break across his face.


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the [BRUTALITY](https://youtu.be/3pS2g3Deks8), if anyone was wondering. 
> 
> ^first one in the video. with that in mind: i’ve played these games since i was in diapers and will instantly recommend them to anyone, but _please_ note that mortal kombat is the literal reason why video games even have ratings - this game is rated **M for Mature/pg17+** , for blood, violence, and language. view at your own discretion!

* * *

Warmth rests steadily in Zuko’s body the longer he spends time with Katara. They are tucking into their food and trading wry banter and long peels of laughter over the ridiculousness that is the show _Saiki K._ Katara has taken to casually dropping bits of her favorite side dishes onto his dwindling plate of rice, making his heart skip dangerously in ardor. She smiles slowly at him when near the end of the episode he eventually slips a few strips of ssamjang dipped skirt steak on top of her own bowl.

“Thank you,” she says around the tips of her empty chopsticks. Zuko pops the pickled radish she’d given him into his mouth in answer, earning him a quiet chuckle.

“So,” Zuko sips at his mango juice mimosa. “how are you feeling today?”

“Better,” Katara answers easily, crossing her ankles under her. “thanks for agreeing to come over. I wanted to see you again but to be truthful I was feeling a bit on the tired side today and wasn’t sure If I still could.”

“I was worried about how you might be feeling after last night so I’d only planned to call before I got your text. It wasn’t _too_ much, was it? Is everything alright?” Zuko relaxes when Katara assures him that _last night was_ _lovely_ and _yes, she’s mostly fine_. He looks her over carefully and then meets her bright ocean gaze. “Alright, but I totally understand if you need me to go.”

“La, no. Stay, please,” Katara puts down her food and shakes her head in denial. She scoots a little closer to him on the couch, her fingers tugging at the hem of her borrowed crimson sweater. “I, uh — I was actually starting to wonder if — are you still free for the rest of today?”

“Yeah,” Zuko breathes after a beat, a little wide eyed. “something up?”

“Nothing really. Just wondering if you wanted to keep hanging out? On top of being a little exhausted, I’m... also kind of hiding from editing my thesis...”

Laughter rumbles out of him, and he returns Katara’s small, wry smile with a genuine one. “Spirits I do _not_ miss those days,” Zuko chuckles. “of course I don’t mind, sweetheart. I said I’m all yours today, didn't I?”

“... You did.” Katara’s wry smile turns coy. “Distract me?” 

The warmth in Zuko’s body increases threefold, centering around his ribs and then scattering across his gut in an old, pleasantly familiar tug of raw attraction. Zuko sets his drink down and meets Katara’s curious stare.

“However you want.”

“Why don’t you decide,” Katara says coolly, even as her smile widens in obvious relief. “ _I’m_ not the one who lost at Mortal Kombat, remember?”


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whew! it’s the chemically imbalanced brain for me, your honor.

* * *

“You know what,” Zuko says with measured intent. “I want a rematch.”

Katara laughs — “ _Do you_ , now?” — but he’s not at all talking about the video game. He’s talking about the way she’d so brazenly had her hands under his sweater just hours ago; he’s talking about how she’s _wearing_ his sweater, and how stupidly attractive she makes it look with her wild hair and her toned legs on display for him to drink in.

He’s talking about how he wants to put his hands on her hips and _kiss_ her.

“Katara,” Zuko calls, and he watches with careful eyes as her laughter immediately quiets. It reminds him of how readily she’d come to his side when he’d showed up at the pharmacy, and how playfully she keeps uttering the words _yes, sir_ at him. “Katara,” he repeats, an undeniable rumble in his voice now. “is there a reason you have my sweater on?”

“Oh. Well, since you asked,” Katara reaches towards the coffee table, skips over her empty glass and picks up his drink instead. Her ocean eyes are bright and gleaming as she presses her mouth to the rim. “I’m hoping to give it back to you.”

Zuko’s heart skips. Dangerous, _dangerous_ water.

“Actually,” Katara sets his glass down after her sip, gaze steady as it meets his own. “that’s a lie. What I’m really hoping for is that you’re more interested in taking it back.”

The last of his decorum melts away in an instant. Zuko hooks his arm under her knees and drags her sideways into his lap. Katara lets out a little gasp of shock but it doesn’t make it far past her lips; Zuko swallows the sound, revels in the way it turns into a pleased little hum when his other hand comes to grip firmly at her chin, just so he can tilt her to him and deepen his kiss.

A soft sound sticks in his throat. She tastes like citrus, and her fingers tug shamelessly at the roots of his hair. She tugs again, and that soft sound spills out of him as a warning growl instead.

“ _You_ ,” he starts, nipping sharply at her mouth.

“ _Yes_ ,” Katara lets out a breathless sigh, and _damn him_ for wanting to hear _sir_ at the end. “Zuko—”

With a broken moan Zuko tips her back into the cushions, away from him and away from the filthy ricochets of heat that have his mind racing miles ahead. He looks down at her with hooded eyes, raking his stare up from where her chest heaves for air to the wet glitter of her kiss-swollen mouth. He groans. Can’t she tell that he’s trying to take this easy? It’s only been days, and already she is wreaking havoc on him. He swallows, steadies his breathing and tells her as much. He almost hates how voice is nothing more than a telling, throaty rasp. 

“You’re going to be the end of me, Katara.” 

“I hope so,” Katara looks up at him with something unreadable in her ocean eyes, her fingers reaching to fist in the front of his sweater. She pulls him down, and Zuko feels the dregs of his control slip as her lips brush over his again. “La, I really, _really_ hope so.”


	26. Chapter 26

* * *

Something heated is starting to simmer between him and Katara, Zuko knows. He feels it under his skin whenever he sees her contact name light up his phone, hot and bothersome in the very same way it’d felt when he’d departed earlier than planned from her home on Saturday. It’s Tuesday now, and he sighs, both distracted and annoyed as he abandons the catalogue he is supposed to be marking up.

He swipes his hands over his face as he recalls the memory. His sweater had come off between needy, citrus-flavored kisses, and his tee would’ve been soon to follow if the heady track of her gaze over his nearly visible tattoos had anything to tell — but of course his phone had gone off, loud and insistent with the sugary pop music that was his baby sister’s ringtone.

Zuko’s pretty sure he apologized less when he’d spilled piping hot coffee down Katara’s blouse. Kiyi was no longer having a good time at her friend’s house, and Katara, bless her, hadn’t blinked twice about helping him out the door.

“Don’t worry,” Zuko found himself promising when he’d kissed Katara goodbye. His fingers had tugged at the hem of her borrowed crewneck. “I’ll get this back from you, yet.”

Looking back on it, on one hand he’s grateful — he _likes_ Katara, and he doesn’t want to mess it up by moving too quickly.

On the other hand...

Zuko lets out another annoyed sigh. On the other hand this work week is lining up to look like hell. He isn’t sure about what his schedule will be like and he wants to make amends, which he hasn’t managed to bring up yet. On the other hand, how could anyone in their right mind have impossible ocean eyes looking up at them in blatant interest and then _actually_ say _no_?

“Something wrong, Nephew?” 

“Nothing,” Zuko says automatically. He drops his hands to see his uncle ambling into his office, tall paper cups of tea in hand. His phone chimes in that very same second.

Coffee Incident: _Hey, you._

Coffee Incident: _Dinner tomorrow?_

Zuko’s face splits into a grin. Iroh’s brows shoot up in question.

“Nothing at all.”


	27. Chapter 27

* * *

“My name in your phone is _Coffee Incident_?” 

“To be fair, I was pretty sure you didn’t _like_ me until four days ago.”

“... Saturday.”

“Yeah. Saturday.”

The mock affront on her features relaxes into a slow smile. Zuko smiles back. He’s thinking about it, too.

Has been. 

“You’d better change my name.” Katara points her chopsticks at him. “I didn’t happen to you. _You_ happened to _me._ ”

Zuko laughs. “Oh?”

“What about _blisters on my tits_ —”

“ _Okay_ , okay. Fair point.”

“It’s the _entire_ point, Zuko.”

“Mhm,” Zuko agrees absently. He’s too busy _looking_ , and trying not to let the smirk he feels coming on consume his entire face. “I’ll think of something better soon.”

“ _Soon?_ Like what?”

“Like Kitten, or Sweetheart. Whatever comes first when I get my sweater back.”

A knowing chuckle rumbles out of him at the sudden beat of silence. Katara rests her chopsticks.

“I thought we agreed that you’d take it?”

“Hm.” Heat lashes up his veins. “Did we?”

Katara stares, demure cuts of impossible blue. 

“You will.” She says.

“Yes.” Zuko stares right back. “I will.”


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> youuuu guessed it! ya girl could not sleep!!

* * *

The full moon glares brightly through the dim haze of Caldera’s early lights. Zuko welcomes the sharp winter winds in his lungs as he tunes out the rhythm of his sneakers scuffing the damp pavement. The perilous corner of his still-new route is coming quickly into view, and while there is _no way_ anyone is up and about at 5am on a winter Friday, he’s not willing to take any risks considering the last time. 

His heart skips harshly as he rounds the corner of the block, but it’s empty. Zuko laughs at himself as he passes a flickering lamp. Of course it is.

A single car rolls by, a preamble to many, he knows, and he tracks the beam of headlights as it passes in the opposite direction of him. It’s almost enough for him to miss the bells of a shop door not two paces ahead. With a curse both startled and annoyed, Zuko pivots around the painted glass — _Rue’s Bakery_ , it reads — as it swings wide open. He passes, and the bells tinkle as the door shuts, but then he hears “see ya!” and skids to a stop.

Zuko spins on his heel, chest heaving for air. “Katara?”

A few paces back, brilliant blue eyes cut his way. His heart skips again, this time in excitement. Agni above, _it’s actually her_. “Zuko!” Katara smiles wide, though her brow still furrows. “Good morning,” she laughs, “fancy meeting you here.”

“Good morning.” Zuko chuckles, warily eying her coffee cup as he slowly draws near. He nods to the bakery, suddenly unsure of how to greet her. “So. Coffee every Friday?”

“As long as my professor insists on 6:30 river walks? You bet your sweet ass.” 

_Rue’s Bakery_ , every Friday before class. Zuko files that away as he notices that her hair is braided back, sees her jeans and her hiking boots, and the contrast of her blouse. “Ah. Your field labs.”

“Ah, my field labs,” Katara agrees with a nod. A sly smile pulls at her mouth as she sips at her drink. “my labs, which start in an hour...”

“Katara.” Zuko laughs, breathless in his continued disbelief. “Are you really asking me out right now?”

“Are we _really_ meeting on _this_ sidewalk at this _stupid_ ungodly hour like we’re complete and total strangers?” Katara's laughter echoes his own as she shrugs. “A moment ago I was sure that I wouldn’t see you until tomorrow night. _Rue’s_ is right here... Sue me for wanting breakfast and a kiss.”

His uncertainty dissipates — he doesn’t have time for food, but he _does_ have time for the other thing. Zuko feels warmth spread through him as he draws nearer still; until she is looking up at him, and he can see her breath quicken just so. “Why don’t you just ask me?”

“Are you big on that?” Katara muses lightly. “The... _asking_ , I mean.”

“Yes,” Zuko answers, but he cups her jaw and captures her mouth before she can start to say anything else. She tastes like amaretto and whipped cream. For a second he forgets himself, thralled by the sound of her happy sigh and the plumpness of her bottom lip. “Can’t stay,” he tells her, once she’s as breathless as him and equally as pink. “but your breakfast is on me.”

 _Ask_ , the word is loud in his head, _ask me to and I will_ , but Katara merely pouts briefly at him, and really, he should know better.

“Tomorrow.” She smiles, halfway into the bakery. “I’ll see you soon, Zuko.”

He finishes his run with an impossible lightness to his step.


End file.
